Both letters were taken by police for analysis and the one sent to Iraq's interest section in Washington tested negative for anthrax, but Iraq's U.N. Mission is still waiting for the results of the letter it received, Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said.

The letter sent to the U.N. Mission arrived about 5 p.m. Friday and was opened by a member of the staff who was wearing a face mask and gloves as a precaution, he said.

"We have been warned before that we have to be careful for all our letters," al-Douri told The Associated Press.

"I was in the United Nations and they called me that they opened a letter with some powder in it," he said, explaining that he returned to the mission, which is about 2 miles away, and found police already there.

Al-Douri said he didn't see the letter but believes it had a New York postmark and a return address. He said the Washington letter came from "another city _ I don't know where."

The ambassador said he expected "that kind of action" because of speculation Iraq had a role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and might be responsible for the wave of letters containing anthrax. He vehemently denied speculation on both issues.

"I am personally at peace because I consider my country is so far away from what is going on here in New York, not only on the question of anthrax but also on the question of the incident on Sept. 11," he said.

But al-Douri said the mission is prepared for more suspicious letters.

"Even now, I do expect that we will receive something more later on. We have to be a little bit cautious, and everything suspicious we will call them (the police) to come and see what is going on," he said.

"I don't consider it very serious right now. Who knows for the future? We hope that nothing will happen," he said.

Al-Douri said the U.N. Mission was told to keep a close eye on the man who opened the letter for 24 hours, but he was not given any antibiotics and has shown no symptoms.